Brian DeWolff (Earth-616)
__TOC__ Real Name: Brian DeWolff Nicknames: None Former Aliases: None Other Current Aliases: None Status Occupation: Vigilante; Former Policeman Legal Status: Citizen of the United States with no criminal record Identity: Publicly Known Marital Status: Single Group Affiliation: Occasional ally of Iron Man; Former NYPD Officer Base of Operations: New York City Origin Place of Birth: Unrevealed Place of Death: New York City Known Relatives: Phillip DeWolff (Father), Celia DeWolff (Mother), Jean DeWolff (Sister; Deceased) First Appearance: ''Marvel Team-Up'' # 48 Final Appearance: ''Amazing Spider-Man'' # 278 History Brian DeWolff was the son of Phillip DeWolff, who became police commissioner of New York City, and was raised by Phillip after the latter's divorce from Brian's mother Celia. (Celia received custody of Brian's sister Jean.). Brian graduated from the New York City police academy with the highest grades in his class and entered the city's police force. Despite their parents' separation and Phillip DeWolff's hatred for his daughter due to her decision to join the police herself (since Phillip did not regard women as fit for police work), Brian and Jean DeWolff greatly loved each other. Brian and his partner Tim were trapped by criminals near Manhattan's South Street Seaport. Two cars driven by criminals knocked over the police car in which Brian and Tim were riding, killing Tim. Brian was then shot, a bullet lodged in his spine. Learning over the police radio that Brian's police car was under attack, Phillip DeWolff drove to the scene and found his wounded son. Phillip took Brian to the former's home without informing anyone; hence, when other policeman arrived, they did not know what had happened to Brian. At his home Phillip discovered that the shooting had severed important regions of Brian's nervous system, paralyzing him and rendering him comatose. Unwilling to see his son live in such a state, Phillip summoned two wealthy men he knew, banker Karl Bonn and landlord Max Vorster, in the hope that they would finance a cure for Brian. With their help, Phillip had Brian secretly operated upon by a surgeon. But Phillip fantasized doing even more for Brian. He wanted Brian to become a vigilante with superhuman abilities who would battle crime without being restricted by the law himself. DeWolff said, "He will be a wraith, dealing justice from beyond the grave!" Unknown to DeWolff, Bonn and Vorster were themselves lawbreakers and they had agreed to help Phillip only so that they would have the police commissioner in their debt. (As it turned out, at some point DeWolff was forced out of his job as police commissioner, apparently by his own superiors.) Jean DeWolff graduated from the police academy and was immediately made assistant detective in charge of investigating the disappearance of Brian DeWolff. Phillip DeWolff objected to Jean's getting this position, but to no avail. After two years, however, no trace of Brian's whereabouts had been discovered and the case was closed; the department presumed Brian to be dead. During those two years Bonn and Vorster aided DeWolff in obtaining advanced scientific equipment with which Phillip intended to restore Brian's mobility and, presumably, to endow him with psionic powers. When Bonn insisted that Brian use his psionic powers on behalf of himself and Vorster, Phillip finally realized that Bonn and Vorster were themselves criminals. Furious, Phillip attacked them, but they pushed him back into an apparatus called the revitalizer. On thus being struck, the revitalizer bathed both Phillip and the comatose Brian with energy Bonn and Vorster fled, assuming Phillip to be dead. In fact, however, the revitalizer linked the minds of Phillip and Brian, so that now Phillip could control Brian's body, make it walk and move normally, and control Brian's psionic powers. Phillip gave Brian the costume and identity of the Wraith and used him to take revenge on Bonn and Vorster. The Wraith, guided by Phillip's consciousness, succeeded in killing both Bonn and Vorster. But the Wraith's activities attracted the attention of Jean DeWolff and the crimefighters Iron Man and Spider-Man, all of whom clashed with the Wraith. The sorcerer Doctor Strange also ran afoul of the Wraith's psionic powers. Finally, Phillip tried to have the Wraith psychically murder Jean, but Spider-Man blinded the Wraith with his webbing, and Iron Man placed an "alpha-jammer" helmet on Phillip, preventing him from transmitting telepathic signals to Brian. Without the link to Phillip's mind, Brian returned to a state of catatonic helplessness. While he and his still comatose son were on trial, Phillip not only regained control of the Wraith, but even projected his own mind into the Wraith's body. Doctor Strange and Iron Man defeated the Wraith, and Phillip's mind was forced back into his own body. Using magic to enable his hand to pass into Brian's body harmlessly, Strange removed the bullet in Brian's spine and mystically healed his injuries, restoring Brian's own mind to consciousness at last. The court found Brian innocent of the Wraith's crimes but found Phillip guilty of them and sentenced Phillip to prison. Brian and Jean were joyously reunited. Subsequently, Jean and Brian, as the Wraith, aided Iron Man in battling the multimillionaire called Midas, who had temporarily seized control of Iron Man's company, Stark International. Much later, while Brian was in California, the criminal known as the Sin-Eater murdered Jean DeWolff. Since the Sin-Eater was himself a policeman, the grief-stricken Brian irrationally intended to take vengeance for his beloved sister's death on the entire New York City Police Department as the Wraith. But on arriving at a New York City police station in costume to begin his assault, the Wraith was himself shot dead by the vigilante Scourge, who was disguised at the time as a policeman. Characteristics Height: 5' 1" Weight: 190 lbs Eyes: Blue Hair: Reddish Blond Unusual Features: None Strength Level The Wraith possessed the normal human strength of a man of his age, height, and build who engaged in moderate regular exercise. Known Powers ;Telepathy: The Wraith possessed various psionic powers. He was capable of reading the minds of other people and could take control of the mind of one other person at a time. He could cast illusions in the minds of one or more witnesses at once; by this means he could make reality itself appear to change in incredible ways, or he could make himself appear to become invisible. He could also mentally induce pain in a victim without causing him or her any actual physical injury. He could even affect Spider-Man's mind in such a way as to shield himself from detection by his spider-sense. ;Telekinesis: The Wraith could telekinetically levitate matter; the limits on this ability are unknown. Abilities No known abilities. Miscellaneous * Notes * Trivia * Notable Appearances *''Marvel Team-Up'' #48 - First Appearance *''Amazing Spider-Man'' #278 - Final Appearance Related Articles *Jean DeWolff External Links * http://www.marveldirectory.com/xoops/modules/wordbook/entry.php?entryID=716 References *Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe Deluxe Edition #20 ---- Category:Characters Category:Deceased Characters Category:Male Characters Category:Good Characters Category:Public Identity Category:Single Characters Category:Blue Eyes Category:Blonde Hair Category:Scourge Victims